Wednesday, August 31, 2011

HOME Secretary Theresa May visited a Northampton estate to learn how the community had worked with the police to combat crime.

Mrs May was shown around Eastfield by neighbourhood police officers yesterday and she met the local residents’ association at St Alban’s Church, in Broadmead Avenue, to discuss issues of concern in the area.

Eastfield Residents’ Association presented a special award to the police earlier this year to mark their work to drive down crime and anti-social behaviour.

Mrs May said: “Eastfield is a very good example of residents working with the police and PCSOs, dealing with issues on the estate. Residents have been very pleased with the support they have got from the police.

“I came to talk to local residents about their interaction with the police and how they have worked with them to take control of their estate and made sure it is somewhere people want to carry on living.”

The MP met the chief constable of Northamptonshire Police, Adrian Lee, to talk about the future of the force and said she was keen to see more police on the front line.

She said: “I am very keen to see more bobbies on the beat. I want to get police out there on the front line doing jobs they want to do and jobs residents want them to do. Here in Northamptonshire, the force has changed to make sure people get out from the back office and onto the front line.”

Mrs May said she had discussed funding cuts with the Chief Constable, Adrian Lee, and added they were “challenging but manageable”.

Northampton North MP Michael Ellis, who organised the visit, said it was a chance for residents to raise issues which concerned them, and added: “I wanted the Home Secretary to see the excellent example of the police and the community working together here in Eastfield.”

Secretary of Eastfield residents’ association, Sheron Watson, said the group worked with the police to make the estate a safer place to live, and added: “There was a time when it was terrible on the estate and there was a lot of crime. People were frightened to go out. The police have worked really hard in the area to change this.”

Northampton South MP Brian Binley had a meeting with the Home Secretary to talk about issues surrounding police funding, the culture of policing and police commissioners.

He said: “She said she was reviewing the funding matter over the next 18 months or so. I am pleased that she has made a commitment to me and at last we can begin to hope that the people of Northamptonshire will get a fair deal and the level of funding we get will provide the level of policing that is required on our streets.”

Under Boris Johnson’s Olympic ticket giveaway scheme, 125,000 tickets will be given away to London schoolchildren. However, they will not include tickets to the shooting events as some have said it would ‘glorify guns’.

Participants in the sport, however, say this would be an opportunity to see guns and shooting in a different way. Rather than associating them with crime, it would be an opportunity to associate them with training, responsibility and hard work. David Penn, the secretary of the British Shooting Sports Council, said of the plan, “There is no link between Olympic-level shooting and crime. Its like saying that a thief would use a Formula One car as a getaway car.”

Yet again, the nanny state feels the need to rear its ugly head. Despite using this opportunity for children to see how professionals treat their weapons, how they train, proper safety protocol and showing children that they are not toys, Boris and his supporters of this scheme would rather come to ridiculous conclusions that sporting guns would encourage violence. On that logic, they should also withhold fencing as it encourages waving pointy objects, or wresting because it encourages fighting.

This is an outrageous slight to the hard-working Olympic athletes all so that some London politicians can promote their own anti-gun agendas. Will the nanny state go so far that it is willing to put aside the well-being of athletes and all the work they have put into their training? I’m, sadly, not shocked that they’ve taken this approach, and its depressing that there really are no limits to the nanny state mentality.

An amateur rugby league player collapsed and died after being overpowered with CS spray as he was being arrested by up to eleven police officers.

Jacob Michael, 25, was sprayed in the face inside his home in the Widnes area of Cheshire, but managed to flee officers before being brought down on a verge 30 metres away.

He was taken to a police station where he became unwell and was rushed to hospital by ambulance. He was pronounced dead two hours later.

Police watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed it had begun an investigation into Monday's incident. Tests are due to be carried out into how Michael died.

The dead man - who was known as Jake - had been with his family and is believed to have dialled 999 himself over a threat made to him when police arrived at the semi-detached home at 5pm.

Police said they were arresting him on suspicion of affray but there was a struggle and Michael was blasted in the face with the spray.

Despite him being temporarily blinded by the effects, Michael managed to run out of the house and got to a grass verge before being tackled and brought to the ground by other police officers who were waiting nearby.

Neighbour Ann Blease, 40, said: 'I didn't know Jake that well but he seemed like a good lad, he was pleasant and good with all the kids, very friendly and happy-go-lucky.

The victim's distraught father, also called Jacob Michael, was pictured today at the family home, along with a female relative

'As far as I know he didn't have a job but lived with his parents and was just a really popular guy who knew a lot of people.'

The mother-of-three claimed: 'What the police did was outrageous. He was handcuffed, on the floor with his legs restrained and they didn't even have the decency to pull up his pants.

'They seemed to be kneeing him in the back of the head. I counted 11 cops. They were all sat on him, giving him a kicking and giving him side digs. There was one woman officer, the rest were men, and she was getting her kicks in as well.

'They were chasing him in the street. I saw it because they chased him in front of my house.

Floral tributes have been left at the scene where Michael was arrested

'His mum told me Jake was the one who rang the police himself, saying that someone was threatening him with a gun.

'They started chasing him and hitting him in the back of the legs with batons. They said, "Why don't you stand up and give yourself some dignity," to him. But he couldn't even stand up after they'd hit him with the batons.

'It was so upsetting to see. I couldn't believe the police could do that. It was like something you see on those TV cop shows.

'I went to speak to his mum. She didn't know what happened. She was mortified when they knocked on her door those hours later and told her, "Your son's died".

'They had banged his head on the floor and they were giving him punches. He was already handcuffed and he was restrained when I saw him. I don't know what happened in the house, I just saw when they were on the street.

'He was shouting, "Help me, help me". He wasn't coherent. I don't know why they were bringing him in for affray. It doesn't matter, he didn't deserve that.

'He's never been in trouble before as far as I know.

Sympathy cards were also left at the spot where Michael was apprehended

'The officers threw him into the van by his arms and legs after they beat him. He was shouting for help. We were saying afterwards with the neighbours, nobody saw him get sprayed.

'It's an absolute disgrace. I don't think the police realise how many eye-witnesses there were. We were all shouting, "Get off him".

'We were scared for him. They weren't listening, they didn't seem aware of us, or that there were kids watching.

'It lasted for 15 minutes that I saw, and he was handcuffed the whole time. I don't know why they kept hitting him. All he was doing was shouting for them to get off him.

'His parents are absolutely mortified. Jake was a popular, well liked lad. He was a friend of a friend of mine and was house sitting for her this week. She's absolutely distraught.

'It's a waste of a young life. It's a disgrace.'

Michael's father, a retired businessman who is also called Jacob, emerged from the property with his daughter after police officers spent 30 minutes speaking to them.

The incident occurred after Michael fled his family home in Widnes, Cheshire

Mr Michael Snr said: 'I cannot say anything at this stage because it's far too early to say what happened and we need to know how Jake died.

'All I want to know is what happened to my son and I'm sure everyone feels the same about that. All I can say is that the whole family are devastated at Jake's death and we need time to reflect on it before we say anything about it.'

Floral tributes with messages saying: 'RIP Jacob' were left at the scene.

Appealing for calm Philip Thompson, the Assistant Chief Constable of Cheshire Police, said today: 'I wish to express our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr Jacob Michael.

'I believe it is important for the community to know that the detailed post mortem examination found no physical injuries on Jacob that could be attributable to a cause of his death.

'Whilst pepper spray was discharged during the course of his arrest, there is no evidence that the use of pepper spray was the sole factor or indeed a contributory factor to Mr Michael becoming unwell some time after his arrest or as a cause of his death.

'These are amongst the reasons why further extensive tests will be required to establish an exact cause of death. I appeal for people to remain calm to allow the IPCC to conduct their investigation effectively and swiftly before making any judgement on this matter.'

A spokesman for the IPCC confirmed they were investigating the death.

Taser death: Body builder Dale Burns, 27, died after being shot with the 50,000 volt gun

'Investigators have been deployed to Widnes to begin gathering evidence and gain initial accounts from police officers.

A Cheshire Police spokesman confirmed: 'The Independent Police Complainants Commission has been informed and will independently investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.'

CS Pepper spray is an inflammatory product which causes immediate closing of the eyes, difficulty breathing, runny nose, and coughing.

The duration of its effects depends on the strength of the spray but the average full effect lasts around thirty to forty-five minutes, with diminished effects lasting for hours.

Although considered 'non-lethal', it may be deadly in rare cases, and concerns have been raised about a number of deaths in Britain where being pepper sprayed may have been a contributing factor for those people suffering from asthma.

Last week bodybuilder Dale Burns, 27, became the first person in Britain to have died from a police Taser after officers shot him three times with the powerful 50,000-volt gun after reports of a disturbance at his bedsit in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

An inquiry has been launched by the police watchdog following the death of a man who was restrained using pepper spray.

Jacob Michael, 25, was arrested for alleged affray in Widnes, Merseyside, and taken by police van to a custody suite.

The spray is understood to have been used on him during the course of the arrest on Monday evening.

Shortly after he arrived at Runcorn police station in Cheshire he became unwell and paramedics were called, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said.

He was taken to Warrington General Hospital by ambulance, where he was pronounced dead.

A spokesman for the IPPC, which is investigating his death, said: "At about 5.15pm on Monday, two police officers attended an address in Lacey Street in Widnes in response to a call received.

"Following a call for assistance, further officers arrived and the 25-year-old man was arrested for alleged affray.

"During the course of the arrest it is understood police deployed pepper spray."

A post-mortem examination carried out yesterday failed to establish the cause of the young man's death and further tests will be conducted "as a matter of urgency to identify any contributory factors", the IPCC spokesman said.

Investigators spent yesterday gathering evidence and initial accounts from police officers, and the police van Michael was transported in was secured for examination, along with CCTV from the custody area, he added.

IPCC Commissioner Naseem Malik, who is overseeing the probe, said: "Investigators have been in Widnes collecting evidence that has helped us begin to start to piece together what happened when police attended Jacob's home.

"Aside from the information we have already gathered, I am aware that people have made comments on social media sites and to journalists indicating they may have witnessed police detaining Jacob on Lacey St. I would ask those people to contact our investigators on 0161 246 8511.

"A cause of death has not been established yet and we have asked that further tests be conducted with the utmost urgency. While we await these answers, I ask people to remain calm and have patience. I can assure them this will be a thorough investigation, the findings of which will be aired and tested in a public forum at some point in the future."

Cheshire Police said today that post-mortem results showed "no physical injuries on Michael that could be attributable to a cause of his death".

In a statement, Assistant Chief Constable Philip Thompson said: "Whilst pepper spray was discharged during the course of his arrest, there is no evidence that the use of pepper spray was the sole factor, or indeed a contributory factor, to Mr Michael becoming unwell some time after his arrest, or as a cause of his death.

"These are amongst the reasons why further extensive tests will be required to establish an exact cause of death.

"The police are co-operating openly with the IPCC and have provided detailed briefings to local councillors and other partners concerning the event.

"The family of Mr Michael are being supported by liaison officers and the IPCC is ensuring they are being informed of the progress of their investigation.

"I appeal for people to remain calm to allow the IPCC to conduct their investigation effectively and swiftly and await the outcome of the investigation before making any judgment on this matter."

The Crown Prosecution Service has issued new guidance on lifting reporting restrictions in youth cases – including episodes of rioting and public disorder.

The updated guidelines were issued after Home Secretary Theresa May said that under-age rioters should be named and shamed and urged prosecutors to ask judges to overrule the right to anonymity.

Section 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 grants automatic anonymity in the youth court, and section 39 allows similar reporting restrictions to be imposed in magistrates’ court and crown court.

In both cases reporting restrictions can be lifted if there is a strong public interest.

The CPS has issued examples where it would be “appropriate for the prosecutor to make representations that there is a strong public interest in favour of lifting restrictions”.

They include “significant public disorder” where the public should be “satisfied that offenders have been brought to justice and there is a need to deter others”, serious offences that have “undermined the public's confidence in the safety of their communities”, and hate crimes which have a “corrosive impact on the confidence of communities”.

The CPS guidance said: “In deciding to make an order under section 39, the judge must balance the interests of the public in the full reporting of criminal proceedings with the welfare of the child or young person.

“The courts have recognised that the weight to be given to the welfare of the child or young person changes where there has been a conviction.

“Following conviction, particularly in a serious case, there is a legitimate public interest in the public knowing the outcome of proceedings in court and the deterrent effect this will have on others.”

Around one in five of those who have appeared in court are under 18 and at one stage last week as many as half of those who had gone through London courts were juveniles.

Last week-end GM Police found it amusing to tweet information about a young mum who was sent to prison for six months for accepting a pair of shorts from the looting riots 'no excuses' they twittered ....(screenshot of tweet) THEN they went on to publish the name and address of a suspected looter BEFORE he had been charged, his house was later burnt to the ground. GM Police cocky as ever, first claimed it was not an arson attack and now they are not so sure.

GM police need to be investigated for their arrogance and blatant stupidity..'

British police have played a significant role in triggering civil disobedience in the UK through their unprofessional and brutal way of dealing with innocent civilians.

Mark Duggan, recently killed in a police shoot out in the London suburb of Tottenham and whose death sparked a wave of street protests across Britain, Ian Tomlinson, an English newspaper vendor who was killed during G20 summit protests in London, Jean Charles de Menezes, who was shot seven times in the head after the London bombings of July 7, 2005, and David Emmanuel , a British reggae singer who was killed during a police raid on his home, all are the names included in a long list of people killed at the hands of British police forces.

Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), a police watchdog that deals with complaints against police has been established to investigate police's crimes.

The IPCC's job is to make sure that complaints against the police in England and Wales are dealt with effectively, it claims.....continue reading http://t.co/9v9CeCw

by Mike MasnickFor the past year, we've talked a lot about how police and some courts have been abusing wiretapping laws to go after people who film the police in public. Thankfully, more recently, it appears that more and more courts have been smacking down such lawsuits, and those who are bringing them are regularly being scolded. Not everyone has received the message however. For example, there's police officer Michael Sedergren, who was disciplined for an incident in November of 2009, in which police were caught on video beating a guy named Melvin Jones III. The video was made by a woman named Tyrisha Greene. Jones had bones all over his face broken and became partially blind in one eye.

You would think that Sedergren, who was suspended for 45 days for his actions in the video, would know better and just get on with his life. Instead, he's "filed an application for a criminal complaint" against Greene, saying she violated wiretapping laws in filming him without his permission. Everyone involved knows the law is not intended for situations like this, where an officer of the law is out in public. If this officer's response to being filmed involved in questionable activities is to push for criminal charges against the person who caught him doing it, it seems like he does not deserve to be an officer of the law at all any more. What a massive abuse of the law.

Simon founded the Boxing Academy in 2006 which is based in Tottenham and Hackney. He was also the Conservative Candidate in Barking in 2010, beating the BNP into 3rd place. Before this Simon was involved in small business management and investment and worked for the British Chamber of Commerce in Brussels.

A while ago two of my students said they were going to..continue reading

Sara Ibrahim says that since the day her little sister Layla was sent to prison, her family has been faced with a simple choice: "Do we give up and just get on with our lives, or do we clear her name? And we've decided if it takes the rest of our lives, that's what we'll do – we'll clear her name."

It was a couple of weeks after she reported being attacked in the early hours of a cold January morning in 2009 that Layla Ibrahim, then 21, noticed a change in the attitude of the police. Yes, the police had documented the injuries to the back of her head and breasts, the black eye, the bleeding from her vagina. They had listened closely as she described the two strangers who attacked her, how the main perpetrator had worn a Nike hoodie, how she thought she had temporarily lost consciousness after being knocked to the ground, how she had felt a "thud" in her vagina but had no clear recollection of what had happened.

The police had seemed sympathetic as she explained how she tried to fend off her attackers with a pair of blunt scissors, and how the second assailant grabbed hold of them and started cutting her hair. Layla told them how eventually she had made her way home, running and bawling, almost feral with fear. The case quickly became high profile, as the local newspaper reported that the police had set up an incident room staffed by 30-40 officers and described it as "one of the city's biggest manhunts".

But a couple of weeks later it was as if the police were investigating an entirely different case, one in which the suspect was Layla herself. The police suggested she had acted in a strange manner when they first went to see her – crying one minute, laughing the next; that she had been aggressive. They talked about inconsistencies in her evidence.

At first Layla thought it understandable – of course, the police wanted to clarify what she had told them – but when they kept questioning her story, she became unnerved. She'd told them the batteries were flat on her mobile phone, but they seemed to think it odd that it wasn't working. And they told her the forensics suggested there was no soil on her clothing from the grass where she said she had been attacked.

"That's when I said I didn't want to answer any more questions without a solicitor," she writes in a letter from prison. "They asked why I wanted a solicitor and I said, 'Because I don't feel like I'm the victim.'"

It wasn't Layla who first heard the news her attack was no longer under investigation. Instead, the police contacted her mother at the school in Carlisle where she works as a senior teaching assistant to tell her they suspected Layla of fabricating her story and inflicting the injuries on herself....read more

COMPSTAT is a “GIGO” (“garbage in, garbage out”) proposition. But, as police have for years been handcuffed by race-baiters, COMPSTAT has routinely been compromised by false data and lack of political will.

But police commanders are not only handcuffed in implementing COMPSTAT by the pro-crime lobby. They are shot in the back by their own chiefs.

COMPSTAT was initially implemented under NYPD Commissioner William Bratton, who had previously run New York’s independent Transit PD (which he then merged into the NYPD), the Boston PD. Since October, 2002, Bratton has run the Los Angeles PD. Bratton instituted COMPSTAT meetings at police headquarters. These became a form of public theater in which he routinely humiliated precinct commanders who had failed to produce the desired “numbers.” “Bad” (read: honest) numbers were career suicide.

Commanders quickly learned what Bratton wanted. And they communicated that knowledge through the ranks.

William Bratton left the NYPD in January 1996, but his model stayed. He and his associates have since spread it across the country. (Bratton’s number two man, John Timoney, was Philadelphia’s police commissioner from 1998-2001.) The result is a police and street culture, in which no one—save perhaps for livery drivers and restaurant deliverymen in poor neighborhoods—has any idea what the true face of crime looks like. But COMPSTAT/broken windows makes for great public relations.

Or at least it did, until the police unions stopped playing ball. In late March, as part of their tactic of negotiating a new labor contract through the media, the New York Police Department’s Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) and the Sergeants’ Benevolent Association (SBA) attacked the NYPD brass, charging that the city’s miraculously low crime rate has been achieved through—fraudulent arrest statistics.

David Cameron, the Tory leader, has repaid a £680 bill for repairs to his constituency home which included clearing wisteria from his chimney.

By Gordon Rayner

12:00PM BST 13 May 2009

Mr Cameron claimed more than £80,000 in additional costs for his second home in Oxfordshire between 2004 and 2008. Almost all of the money was to pay mortgage interest repayments of £1,176 a month on the stone-built cottage, but in Nov 2006 he submitted a £680 receipt for repairs.

The work included clearing wisteria and vines from a chimney, replacing outside lights and resealing his conservatory roof. The odd jobs included repairing cisterns, washers and a leaky washing machine. Mr Cameron also reclaimed the council tax on the home near Chipping Norton, and his utility bills, house insurance and oil heating costs.

If I were a conspiracy type of gal I would swear Cameron set these riots up just so he could have Bill Bratton on board...it is all too convenient after Theresa May said NO, we have a riot and Bill Bratton falls into Camerons arms ! NOW where is MURDOCH in all of this because this was not Camerons idea this was planned sometime ago...

As police in British cities prepared to flood the streets Friday to ensure weekend drinking does not reignite the rioting that swept the country this week, a prominent former U.S. top cop said he was in talks with the U.K. government to become an adviser on calming the violence there.

William Bratton, who as police chief in New York, Boston and Los Angeles built a reputation for quelling gang activity, said he received a phone call Friday from Prime Minister David Cameron asking him whether he would consider becoming a consultant for British police. He said he thanked Cameron for the opportunity and will continue speaking with British officials to formalize an agreement. "This is a prime minister who has a clear idea of what he wants to do," Bratton told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "He sees this crisis as a way to bring change.[3]

Bill Bratton, who headed police departments in Boston, New York and L.A., confirmed that he has been asked by British Prime Minister David Cameron to advise British police on how to address street violence.

Bratton told ABC News he had received a call from Cameron Friday morning asking him to consider becoming a consultant to Scotland Yard. He said he thanked the prime minister for the offer and hoped to come to a formal agreement.

Prime Minister had repeatedly signaled his intention to enlist the aid of Bratton, who as a police commissioner in three major U.S. cities developed a reputation for driving down crime rates and curbing gang activity.

When addressing Parliament about the rioting and looting that began in London over the weekend, he cited by Bratton by name as the kind of outside expert that Britain needed.[4] Before riots flared up in London and hacking scandals were the biggest news coming out of the U.K., one of America's toughest police chiefs told The Daily Beast's Lloyd Grove that he would be willing to lead Scotland Yard.

Bill Bratton, former chief of the NYPD, LAPD, and Boston police departments, nearly got his wish yesterday when Prime Minister David Cameron selected him to be his top adviser on gang violence in Britain's cities. He will expedite plans to monitor gang members between the ages of 14 and 17 and will be a major contributor to David Cameron's foming public review about how to squelch gangs in the country.[5]British Prime Minister David Cameron again today strongly signaled his intent to bring in former New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton to help reshape Scotland Yard.

In an address to Parliament that followed days of violent unrest in Britain's cities, and in which he vowed to track down and punish rioters, Cameron made clear his determination to search globally for the expertise needed to solve the crisis in British policing.[6] I will be discussing how we can go further in getting to grips with gangs with people like Bill Bratton, former commissioner of police in New York and Los Angeles.''

Bratton, who is now chairman of Kroll, a risk consulting company headquartered in New York, has acknowledged his interest in the post but declined to comment on it when reached by phone yesterday. He issued a statement responding to the prime minister's remarks to Parliament. "In light of the understandable interest of the British people and their government to address the issues of gangs and gang violence, if asked I would be honored to provide my counsel in any capacity they deem helpful,'' Bratton said.

Bratton also said he would be in a position to discuss his work in reducing gang-related crime in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles, where police relations with diverse communities also improved. "There are many lessons from these experiences that I believe are relevant to the current situation in England,'' he said in his statement.[7]

Bill Bratton, who introduced zero-tolerance policing to New York and turned around crime-ridden Los Angeles, will help ministers draw up plans to tackle gang culture in Britain's cities.

Yesterday the Prime Minister unveiled the first of his plans to tackle gang violence. He said injunctions which let courts ban gang members from gathering in certain places or at certain times of day, which currently apply only to adults, will be extended to children.

Ministers were planning to roll out a pilot scheme covering 14 to 17-year-olds later this year.[8]

Britain said Thursday that it would seek U.S. law enforcement advice on fighting gang violence as the U.K. deals with riots that have gripped several of the country's cities.

Bratton, whose resume includes top cop jobs in New York, Los Angeles and Boston, said in a written statement that he would "be honored" to assist the British. Since the riots first started, London's Metropolitan Police have been widely criticized for its slow and inadequate response. The situation has deteriorated to the point where citizens are forced to stand guard in front of their homes and businesses because of the lack of police presence. For the first time, its deputy assistant commissioner admitted Thursday that the force did not deploy enough officers to control the outbreak of violence early on in the riots.

[9] Bratton left the Los Angeles police in 2009 and is now a private security firm executive.

As Britain's Parliament took up an emergency debate on the riots, Cameron told lawmakers he would look to cities like Boston for inspiration, and he mentioned Bratton as a person who could help offer advice. Bratton had said in a statement Thursday that he would be "pleased and honored" to provide services and counsel in any capacity, adding that he loves London and has worked with British police for nearly 20 years. After a week of violence, police in London said Friday they have charged almost 600 people with violence, disorder and looting over the deadly riots in the capital alone.[2]

British Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking to Parliament about the recent riots in London, said street gangs were partly to blame and he will consult with former Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton to tackle them.

[10] Now that perceived link will be solidified as reports claim that British Prime Minister David Cameron will confer with William Bratton, the former police chief of both New York City and Los Angeles.[11]

NEW YORK (AP) -- William Bratton, who as police chief in New York, Boston and Los Angeles built a reputation for quelling gang activity, is in talks with the British government to become an adviser on calming the violence there, he told The Associated Press on Friday.[2] "I want us to use the record of success against gangs some cities like Boston in the U.S.," said Cameron. Before he became police commissioner in New York, and later chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, Bratton was the top cop in Boston.[6] "I also believe we should be looking beyond our shores to learn lessons from others who have faced similar problems," Cameron told Parliament. "That is why I will be discussing how we can go further in getting to grips with gangs with people like Bill Bratton, former commissioner of police in New York and Los Angeles." Bratton, now overseeing a private security firm, said that while L.A. had a large number of gangs, only a small proportion of them were responsible for violent crimes.[10] In a respectful atmosphere in the House of Commons, Cameron set out the government's proposed response to the riots.

The major legislative action he set out was a change to the law to allow the police to force people who they suspect of being involved in criminal activity to remove face coverings.

There'll also be a review of whether social networks should be shut down when they are being used to plan crimes.

In terms of the police, Cameron praised their bravery while criticising their tactics on the first few nights of the riots. The Prime Minister also made clear that he'll be seeking advice on dealing with gangs from Bill Bratton, the former New York and LA police chief. This will add to the talk that Number 10 is keen to see Bratton brought in to run the Met.

Out of 60 million plus people here in the UK, Mr Cameron has decided to choose an "advisor" from America eh! Bill Bratton hasn't come up against EU Law though has he? Particularly its Human Rights Laws. As long as he is just an 'Advisor' and does not don a British Bobby's Uniform or is appointed Chief of all British Police for to do so would be contrary to our Constitution and THAT has been trashed enough already by British Governments since 1972-AND LOOK WHAT A MESS WE ARE IN NOW BECAUSE OF THAT. All this Country REALLY wants Mr Cameron, is a Prime Minister that can actually Govern this Country by its own Common Law Constitution and not laws written by foreigners on mainland Europe. It is not much to ask is it and after all IT IS INDEED THE LAW OF THIS LAND. - The Truth Teller, West Midlands, England, 12/8/2011 17:21

What he did in the U.S. was adopted the British Police methods. Bringing this man or any American cop here is the last thing we need. The American police I have come into contact cause more trouble because of their in your face attitude with everyone - as a friend of mine and American police officer said they are trained to treat every single person they meet as someone who is about to kill them.[8]Now David Cameron is turning to the man who is credited with restoring law and order in the city - former LAPD chief Bill Bratton - dubbed a "US Supercop" by the British newspapers. At one point he was apparently being considered for the job as Britains top policeman, the new Commissioner of Londons Metropolitan police.[13]

Britain has often turned to Boston police for lessons in recent years, noted the British consul general in Boston. Paul Evans, who was Boston's police commissioner from 1994 to 2003, caught the eye of former prime minister Tony Blair and after his tenure went to London to run the Police Standards Unit in Britain's Home Office; he later focused on criminal reduction efforts. His predecessor here, William J. Bratton, has also advised police in Britain.

Two years ago, Queen Elizabeth II awarded him the honorary title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. "Boston is a place that we Brits look so often for links, whether it's in business or innovation or research. Also in this area of policing, it's an area that we Brits have looked in the past,'' said Phil Budden, the British consul-general in Boston. In recent weeks, speculation has swirled that Bratton is a contender to become the new commissioner of Scotland Yard, following the resignation of Sir Paul Stephenson amid allegations that surfaced in the News of the World phone-hacking scandal that his officers had taken bribes.[7]

Cameron also said that the review into what could be done to stop gangs would involve Bratton and produce a report in October.

When Bratton was New York's police commissioner in the 1990s, his reign saw major crimes fall by 39 per cent and murders fall by 50 per cent. When he headed up the LA police, Bratton saw crime reduce for six consecutive years, including a 24 per cent drop in murders.

Known for his blunt speaking, on one occasion when police had shot at a car containing teenagers that then crashed and the occupants were killed members of the public said that he should control his officers.

[14] Now that will be rushed forward and will cover more parts of the country. Mr Cameron also announced yesterday that he has set up a review into what can be done to stop gangs.

Mr Bratton, 63, will be a major contributor to this review, which will report back in October.

As New York's police commissioner in the 1990s, the'supercop' introduced a ground-breaking policy under which officers cracked down hard on even the smallest infringements to deter people from carrying out bigger crimes. This led to major crimes falling 39 per cent, with murders down 50 per cent, during his time in charge. Another crucial factor was his introduction of sophisticated data analysis techniques. At weekly meetings, officers tracked crime patterns on computers so they could target problem areas.[8]

Bill Bratton - described by some as "America's most fearsome policeman" after he brought zero tolerance policing (and crime data analysis) to the streets of New York and sorted out crime in Los Angeles - is to advise the coalition government on tackling the problem of gang culture in the UK.

Cameron named the outspoken Bratton in the House of Commons when he made his emergency statement on the government's response to the riots.

[14] Mr Bratton, the former New York and Los Angeles police chief, is credited with dramatically reducing crime after the 1992 riots on LA. The burning buildings, looting, and clashes with police in Britain this week have brought back some vivid memories in Los Angeles.[13]

Los Angeles Police chief Bill Bratton, left, monitors a rally where legalization of millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States supporters are marching on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.[4]

Bratton was credited with reducing crime in Los Angeles following the devastating riots of April 1992. That conflagration was sparked after four police officers were acquitted on charges that they brutally beat black motorist Rodney King.[11]Mr Bratton was forced to resign from the force in 1996 as city officials investigated the propriety of a book deal he had made while in office.

He took over the scandal-plagued Los Angeles police in 2002, and again helped turn the city around. Under his leadership, crime there dropped for six years in a row, including a 24 per cent fall in homicides which relieved the city of its title as America's murder capital.

Just a month into the job, he was confronted by demonstrators angry at the deaths of two teenagers in a car which crashed after police had shot at it.[8]

"Looking at the pictures coming out of London really brings back memories of what happened here in Los Angeles 20 years ago," said Commander Andrew Smith, then a Los Angeles Police Department street officer. He showed me a photograph taken on the day violence erupted in 1992 - a little faded but clearly showing him standing in the middle of the road holding a shotgun upright in one hand, burning buildings all around him. "I see a lot of parallels with the behaviour of the rioters in London - they did the same things here then - and we learned a lot of lessons.[13]

One observer told BBC that, as in the British riots, in Los Angeles, the lone incident led to widespread violence by many other disaffected people. "They were Latinos, poor whites, they were just hooligans of all sorts hit the streets along with black gang members and all sorts of people out doing burning and looting and rioting and general thuggery on the streets of LA," said Joe Hicks, a former civil rights activist in Los Angeles. "You get a lot of clowns and fools and idiots in any society, who are just laying in wait for the chance to do what they do."

[11] "The beating of Rodney King was simply the catalyst," said Joe Hicks, a former civil rights leader who led a multi-cultural organisation to help repair communities in the aftermath of the riots. It began in a black neighbourhood but, as was the case in the United Kingdom, many different people joined the riot.

"They were Latinos, poor whites, they were just hooligans of all sorts hit the streets along with black gang members and all sorts of people out doing burning and looting and rioting and general thuggery on the streets of LA," he said. "You get a lot of clowns and fools and idiots in any society, who are just laying in wait for the chance to do what they do."[13] ...read more

A suspected car thief has filed a $25m (£13.3m) claim with the city of Los Angeles over a videotaped police beating he says left him with brain damage.

Stanley Miller alleged the beating, on June 23, also caused "spinal injuries, trunk-torso injuries, internal injuries, emotional distress, and bruises and contusions". If the city rejects the claim, Mr Miller could seek damages through a lawsuit.

A police spokeswoman said the department would not comment on "pending litigation".

The police chief, William Bratton, said Mr Miller's injuries appeared to be minor scrapes and bruises.

Police allege he had led them on a 30-minute chase after they saw him in a reportedly stolen car. The chase ended when Mr Miller jumped out of the car. He was on the ground when an officer, John Hatfield, struck him 11 times with a metal flashlight.

Mr Hatfield said he had struck Mr Miller after another officer felt something in his pocket that he mistook for a gun.

In what was an extraordinarily poor judicial ruling, Judge Rolf M. Treu, decreed a dubious decision against a slain 19-month-old toddler, Suzie Pena,
in favor of the Los Angles Police Department, who killed the child, through criminal negligence in a shoot out.